


Make or Break Me

by agreytracksuit



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, High School, Robots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-17
Updated: 2019-08-17
Packaged: 2020-09-05 20:33:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20279395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agreytracksuit/pseuds/agreytracksuit
Summary: Raven has almost finished her final project for Robotics class when Murphy accidentally destroys it and has to help her rebuild it.





	Make or Break Me

“Okay class,” Pike called, commanding his student’s attention with his bellowing voice. The class of twelve all settled into their workstations and faced the front of the room where Pike was standing. “We’re just over halfway through the year which means you should have at least begun construction on your final projects. Those of you who are yet to present your chosen design concept, come and see me now. You know who you are. The rest of you, get to work. I won’t waste any more of your time if you don’t waste mine.”

The class immediately sprung to action gathering parts and tools to work on their contraptions. Raven pulled her partially constructed machine from the box she’d carefully stored it in and placed it on the work bench in front of her. Murphy, who she’d been forced to sit next to all year, picked up a stray metal ruler and began flicking against the edge of the table.

“Do you take anything seriously?” Raven scowled. Murphy looked up at her, moving as little as possible to do so.

“Yes,” he said snarkily.

“I haven’t seen you work on your project at all this year,” she continued. “Why even bother coming to class at all?”

“Listen, Reyes-”

“Raven to you,” she interrupted.

“You obviously have a lot of hatred to share, but don’t take it out on me just because I’ve finished my final project and you haven’t,” Murphy finished, not stopping continuously flicking the ruler, much to Raven’s frustration.

“Oh please, there’s no way you’ve finished already,” Raven responded with an eye roll. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

“I’m sorry, did you see me leave the table and talk to Pike about not completing my final design?” Murphy replied pointedly. Raven shook her head and ignored him. “Whatever, I don’t need to prove anything to you.”

Pike was doing his rounds about the room and stopped in front of the two of them.

“Raven, how is your can opener coming along?” he asked. Raven beamed at him, excited to share her hard work.

“Okay so I’ve put together the bones of the machine and I have the minimum four mechanisms we need, strictly speaking there are actually six, and the couple of times I’ve tested it it’s worked,” she explained breathlessly. “The only issue I’m facing at the moment is that the force of opening the can always rips the ring clean off which obviously doesn’t work with the safety part of the criteria. But I’m working on fixing it, and once that’s done, I just need to make it look like a sellable product.”

“Did you end up deciding on making it battery operated?” Pike asked.

“Actually, I landed on solar,” Raven told him. “I realised the batteries didn’t work at all with my target demographic.”

Pike nodded his head, impressed, before continuing his wander around the room to check on everyone else’s projects.

“Suck up,” Murphy muttered. Raven scoffed. She hadn’t noticed that he’d stopped flicking the ruler, but as soon as she did, he’d started again.

“Oh my god, can you stop?” she snapped, reaching at him to try and take the ruler from his grasp. He pulled back, teasing her with it. “Fuck Murphy, you’re such a dick.”

Raven tried to reach for it again but he pulled it back. She folded her arms and glared at him unimpressed as he dangled it in front of her face.

“Oh, come on Raven, I’m just having a bit of fun,” he mocked. She moved again to snatch the ruler from him and this time as he pulled away, he knocked Raven’s machine, causing it to topple to the ground and smash, completely destroyed.

Raven looked up at Murphy, mouth agape, almost unable to comprehend what had just happened. Her lip quivered and she could feel tears forming, but she wasn’t about to cry in front of him. She glared up at him and he was frozen in place, his mouth open in shock.

“Fuck, Raven, I’m so sorry,” he said sincerely, still frozen as if he thought moving would make the situation worse. But it was already as bad as it gets to her, and she was furious.

“Stay. The fuck. Away from me.” Her voice was steadier than she felt and she could feel the eyes of everyone else in the class on her. She silently picked up her books from the work bench, turned towards the door, and stormed out of the classroom.

* * *

Raven hadn’t bothered to go to last period. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to focus so instead she went straight home, making herself comfortable on the couch with a bag of chips and Mr Robot on the TV.

School had been over for an hour when there was a knock on the door. She wasn’t expecting anyone, so she was more than a little confused when she got up to see who it was.

“What the hell do you want?” she demanded when she opened the door to see Murphy standing there with a folio and a bag from the hardware store.

“Can I come in?” he asked, a smile playing on his lips.

“Why would I say yes to that?” she asked, folding her arms.

“Look, I know I fucked up, but I want to make it better,” he explained. “You still need a final project to pass and since I’m the reason you don’t have one, I stole your folio from the classroom and bought all the parts we need to build it again.”

“We?” Raven scoffed. “I don’t think so.”

Murphy cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. “It’ll be faster with two people,” he pointed out. “Plus, I’ve already finished mine so it’s not like I’ll steal your ideas or whatever it is you’re worried about.”

“I still don’t believe you about that,” Raven said, opening the door to let him in.

“You don’t have to believe me for it to be true,” Murphy replied. He stepped inside and looked around, taking everything in. Raven gestured to the lounge room and Murphy obliged, taking a seat on the floor by the coffee table.

“How did you even find my address?” Raven noted, sitting across from him. “Stalker,” she added with a smirk.

“We take the same bus,” Murphy reminded her. “I get on before you and you always avoid me, remember?”

Raven nodded ashamedly. “Right,” she said. Murphy put the folio and bag of parts on the table in front of them.

“Okay boss,” he said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. “Where do we start?”

* * *

It wasn’t taking as long as it had the first time. Raven knew exactly where she needed all of the parts to be and, as much as she hated to admit it, having Murphy there was actually pretty helpful.

“I think we need to take a break,” Raven said with a sigh, leaning back and resting her head on the couch behind her. She admired their handiwork and couldn’t help but smile. It didn’t look like much at the moment but she knew if they kept it up it would be back to where she had it in no time.

Murphy got up from his side of the table and sat down next to her, pulling his phone out.

“It must be time for pizza,” he decided, and Raven hummed in agreement. Murphy quickly added a couple of sodas and a pepperoni pizza to the delivery and hit ‘order’. “Twenty minutes,” he told Raven, checking the app.

“You know, if you hadn’t totally destroyed my machine, I could’ve showed you how it works when our sodas got here,” Raven mentioned. “Then again, if you hadn’t destroyed my machine, I guess we wouldn’t be having pizza together.”

“Wait,” Murphy said, readjusting himself to look at her better. “It’s a _soda can _opener?”

Raven nodded, as if it were obvious. “Yeah, regular electric can openers already exist why would I just recreate that?”

Murphy nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, makes sense,” he conceded. “So, what made you go with the soda can idea?”

Raven thought about it carefully before she responded, slightly turning her body away from him. “I was thinking about my leg,” she finally told him. “How I’m lucky to have a brace that allows me to do almost anything with my disability, and how hard it must be for people who don’t have a lot of motor function in their arms and hands.”

She glanced at Murphy and he was watching her intently, waiting patiently for her to continue.

“My grandma had Parkinson’s, and I saw how frustrating it was for her to not even be able to open a can of beer. And she _loved _drinking beer,” Raven continued with a laugh. Murphy gave her a small smile, and she looked down at her hands, almost embarrassed. “We really take for granted the small things we do every day that some people would kill to be able to do.”

There was a small silence, but neither of them felt awkward to sit in it.

“I think it’s very admirable,” Murphy eventually said. Raven looked up at him. She was never able to tell when he was being sarcastic and when he was being genuine, but in this case, she was certain he was being sincere. It was so strange to her that just a few hours beforehand she had hated him so much, even before he’d broken her machine, and now she felt like they’d been friends forever.

* * *

For the rest of the week, Murphy kept coming to Raven’s house after school to help work on her project, and by Friday afternoon they’d gotten it back to how Raven had it, only this time they’d managed to fix the issue where the ring was being ripped off.

“I really appreciate all your help this week,” Raven told Murphy, putting her tools away. “I mean, I wouldn’t have needed it if you hadn’t broken my machine in the first place, but most people wouldn’t have bothered to help. So, thanks, I guess.”

Murphy smirked. “I guess you don’t need me anymore,” he said. He picked his jacket up from where he’d thrown it on the ground and put it on.

“It’d feel like cheating if I let you help me anymore,” Raven agreed. “That doesn’t mean we can’t still hang out though.”

Murphy pulled his keys from his jacket pocket and swung them around his finger. “The night’s still young,” he pointed out. “Can I show you something?”

Raven looked at him curiously. “Should I be nervous?” she asked jokingly. Murphy laughed.

“Maybe a little.”

Raven agreed, and before she knew it, they were heading out to an old warehouse. As far as she could tell it wasn’t being used for anything, but there were plenty of other cars around so she figured there must be some kind of event being held there.

“What is this place?” she wondered aloud as she and Murphy got out of the car. Murphy opened the boot, pulling out what looked like a small robot.

“Meet my final project,” he proclaimed, holding it out so Raven could get a good look.

“Okay, you’ve actually finished it,” she admitted with a smile, impressed. “That still doesn’t answer my question.”

Murphy started walking towards the building and gestured for Raven to follow. “If I’m being totally honest, I actually finished this about two years ago,” he told her, a little sheepish. “Call it cheating if you want, but I have added updates since the start of the year so I should get some credit for that.”

“And what’s it’s function?” Raven asked.

“Well, I went in a bit of a different direction than what you did,” Murphy explained. They’d arrived at the entrance of the building and he stopped in front of the door for dramatic effect. “It’s a fighting robot.”

He pushed the door open and as they walked inside, Raven’s senses were assaulted. The place was packed with people and, to her surprise, robots. In the middle of the room there was a large ring that people were crowded around, watching a robot fighting match. There were several smaller rings that appeared to have practise matches, as well as repair stations.

Someone was on a large chair, akin to what a lifeguard would sit on, holding a megaphone and commentating the match. There were even a few food stalls that were selling hotdogs and popcorn.

“Come on, I need to go sign in,” Murphy said, grabbing Raven’s hand and pulling her towards the sign in table. Raven’s heart was pounding and she was sure it was from the adrenaline of simply being there, not from Murphy’s touch.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she told him breathlessly, still taking it all in. “How often do you do this?”

“They have competitions one weekend a month so I usually come to those but you can also come and fight pretty much any Friday or Saturday night so I’m here a couple of times a month at least,” Murphy told her. He turned to the young woman at the sign in table who was wearing bright red lipstick far too much eyeliner. “Good evening Ontari, how are you today?”

“Murphy, hi,” Ontari replied, smiling seductively at him. She scowled when she noticed Raven. “Is your girlfriend signing up for the fight tonight as well?”

“Oh, we’re not…” Raven began.

“Just me tonight thanks, Ontari,” Murphy cut her off. “Raven doesn’t have a fighter yet.”

Ontari rolled her eyes and added Murphy’s name to her list. “You’ll be up against Jasper and Monty this evening.”

“Perfect, I like a challenge,” Murphy replied. “Thanks, Ontari.” Raven and Murphy headed off to the main ring.

“Why didn’t you tell her we’re not dating?” Raven asked curiously once Ontari was out of earshot.

“Ontari’s been trying to get with me for a year,” Murphy said. “And if she thinks I have a girlfriend now, who am I to correct her?”

The two watched the next few fights in the main ring, cheering with the crowd. Raven even placed a couple of bets but didn’t manage to win anything.

“And now we have two fan favourites battling it out,” the commentator announced, and the crowd whistled and cheered. “John Murphy’s _Lightbourne Prime_ versus Jasper and Monty’s _Moonshine_! Fighter’s ready!”

Murphy placed his robot in the ring and Monty and Jasper followed suit. They stood in their designated fighting booths, controllers in hands.

The ref got into the ring, whistle in his mouth and arm up. He blew the whistle and threw his arm down, and the fight was on.

Murphy went straight in, Lightbourne Prime rushed towards Moonshine and hit it head first. Jasper and Monty weren’t about to give up without a fight, and they immediately released their secret weapon. A claw emerged from the front of Moonshine, grabbing Lightbourne Prime and shaking it like a ragdoll.

Murphy pressed a button on his controls which caused Lightbourne Prime to start spinning, able to escape from the tight grasp. The spinning continued once the robot had been released, hitting Moonshine repeatedly.

Jasper and Monty looked panicked as they tried to have Moonshine escape, only to have it backed into a corner where Murphy hit their fighter one final time with one of its many robotic limbs, causing Moonshine to smoke and splutter.

“Lightbourne Prime wins the round!” the commentator announced once the ref had signalled the end of the match. Raven hadn’t realised she’d been holding her breath this entire time until she finally released it. “John Murphy will be going on to tomorrow night’s round where he will fight his rival, Zeke Shaw!”

Murphy took a bow as the crowd cheered before picking up his robot and making his way back to a grinning Raven.

“What’d you think?” he asked, unable to stop smiling.

“That was probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen,” Raven told him. They fell into step beside each other and headed towards the exit. “Aren’t you worried about what will happen to your robot, though? If it gets destroyed in a fight you won’t have a final project for robotics class.”

“They never let the matches go far enough that the robots are actually destroyed,” Murphy explained. “This is the exact same robot I had my first fight with. With some changes, of course.”

They left the building and the air outside was brisk, but it was a nice night. When they got to the car Murphy jumped up on the hood and gestured for Raven to join him. She jumped up next to him and wrapped her arms around herself.

“Thanks for coming out with me tonight,” Murphy said, looking up at the moon. “I know we’ve never really been friends but I kind of hope we can be after this whole… robot bonding experience.”

“You just want us to be friends?” Raven asked nervously. She didn’t really know what she was saying. All she knew was that she hadn’t felt like this in a long time, maybe ever.

Murphy looked at her with surprise. “Isn’t that what you want?”

Raven shrugged. “Murphy, I’ve never felt as alive as I did tonight, and you’re the reason for that,” she told him. She wasn’t sure if she was shaking from the cold or from putting herself out there like that. “I just thought…” she trailed off. 

Murphy’s eyes darted from her eyes to her lips and back again. He gently brushed her hair from her face, stroked her cheek with his thumb and pressed his lips softly to hers. Raven kissed him back gently before they both pulled away, Murphy’s hand still on her face. Raven bit her lip abashedly and Murphy smiled back.

“No Raven, I don’t want to be just friends with you,” Murphy said softly, and he pulled her back into another, more passionate kiss.


End file.
